IPL Finals: A Look Back

It's decided! The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 final will be a Maharashtra derby as Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) and Mumbai Indians (MI) will face each other for the fourth time in Season 10. This will be the first time that these two teams will lock horns in the final with RPS making their debut there while MI have reached their fourth. Form and history are on the side of RPS with the Pune outfit winning their previous three matches this season. Mumbai and Pune finished one-two in the IPL 2017 league table with the latter coming out trumps in the Qualifier 1 to directly book their berth. MI had to take the longer route and defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Qualifier 2 to secure their place in the summit clash.

With the final to be played on Sunday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, we take a look at the previous nine finals and how they panned out.

IPL 2016, Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: The 2016 final was a battle of the batsmen at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the only time both teams managed to breach the 200-run barrier. After winning the toss, SRH opted to bat and were given a dream start by skipper David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan. The Australian opener was on fire and smashed 69 off 38 balls. Yuvraj Singh and Ben Cutting's cameos helped Hyderabad post 208/7 -- the highest score in the history of IPL finals.

RCB skipper Virat Kohli and West Indian Chris Gayle gave their team the perfect start and in no time reached the 100-run mark without any loss. With the duo going all guns blazing, RCB were primed for their first title win but alas it wasn't to be. A mini collapse and hara-kiri ensued as RCB players threw away the match when it seemed harder to lose than it was to win.

When Kohli was dismissed, RCB were 140/2 in 12.5 overs, needing 69 off 48 balls. AB de Villiers, KL Rahul and Shane Watson fell without much fight while Stuart Binny and Chris Jordan were run out as RCB fell short by nine runs.

IPL 2015, Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings: The stage was set in Eden Gardens, Kolkata, the venue for the battle between Mumbai and Chennai -- the third time the two teams were locking horns in an IPL final. Chennai put Mumbai in to bat and the former must have thought they struck gold when Parthiv Patel was sent packing off just the fifth ball of the match.

However, that was the end of CSK players' happiness that night as Lendl Simmons, Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu took them to task as MI posted 202/5.

Dwayne Smith (57) got Chennai off to a brisk start but found little support from others. Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni threatened for a brief period but it just wasn't enough. Once the West Indian was dismissed, MI romped to a 41-run win.

IPL 2014, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab: Bengaluru played host to Punjab's first IPL final and it wasn't first time lucky for the kings from Punjab. KKR won the toss and elected to field. Punjab lost Virender Sehwag and George Bailey early but a 129-run partnership between Manan Vohra and Wriddhiman Saha put them in a commanding position.

Saha blasted 115 runs from just 55 balls and took his team to 199/4 in 20 overs.

Kolkata lost captain Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa cheaply but were rescued by a brilliant 71-run stand between Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan. Punjab kept chipping away at the wickets to keep themselves in the hunt but Pandey's 94 and Piyush Chawla's late heroics got KKR across the line with three balls to spare and also their second IPL title.

IPL 2013, Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings: This was the first time Eden Gardens was playing host to an IPL final while Mumbai and Chennai were facing each other for the second time for the ultimate prize. Mumbai won the toss and chose to bat. They were in trouble from the outset and at 16 for three and then 52 for four, few people gave them any hope of taking the title home but a match-winning 60 off just 32 balls from Kieron Pollard turned the game on its head. MI posted 148/9 in 20 overs and CSK had a fight on their hands.

What happened in the second innings, few would have envisaged. A batting collapse of monumental proportions saw CSK being reduced to 58 for eight.

With all the carnage at the other end, one man stood his ground -- MS Dhoni. The CSK skipper scored an unbeaten 63 but with no support, Chennai fell to a 23-run loss, giving Mumbai their first IPL title.

IPL 2012, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings: Playing in front of their home fans at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and gunning for their third straight IPL title, CSK were the favourites going into the match. But someone failed to mention that to a certain Manvinder Bisla.

Chennai, opting to bat first, smashed their way to 190/3 with Mike Hussey, Mural Vijay, Suresh Raina and Dhoni all joining the party.

However, Bisla played the role of the party pooper in Chennai as he smashed 89 off just 48 balls to put KKR on the winning track in the chase. Jacques Kallis too played a solid innings to take his team to within touching distance.

KKR still needed 16 off the final 7 balls with all the big guns back in the hut. Shakib Al-Hasan and Manoj Tiwary took centre-stage and their cameos helped KKR overhaul the target with two balls to spare.

IPL 2011, Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: The men from Bengaluru stood in the way of Chennai's second straight title. However, they didn't stand in the way for too long as CSK bulldozed their way to their second title in one of the most one-sided IPL finals.

Chennai, opting to bat, got off to a brilliant start courtesy Mike Hussey and Vijay. The duo shared a sizzling 159-run partnership for the first wicket and Chennai never looked back from that point on. Vijay's 95 helped them score 205/5 in 20 overs.

Gayle was sent packing in the fourth ball from the innings and that was it for RCB. Kohli and De Villiers showed glimpses but it just wasn't enough as Chennai steamrolled their way to an emphatic 58-run win.

IPL 2010, Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians: DY Patil Stadium kin Navi Mumbai was buzzing on the night of April 25 as MI made it to their first IPL final, where they faced CSK, who had already been thwarted once in the IPL final and were determined to not let history repeat itself.

Chennai, choosing to bat, got off to a mixed start. Vijay scored 26 off 19 balls while Mathew Hayden laboured to a 31-ball 17. Suresh Raina once again proved to be CSK's hero as his 35-ball 57 helped CSK post a fighting total of 168/5.

Sachin Tendulkar (48) gave Mumbai a steady yet slow start but when none of the other batsmen got going Mumbai's problems were compounded. Pollard and Rayudu tried the level best but Mumbai were always too far behind the asking rate to really make a good fist of things.

In the end, they could manage only 146/7, falling short by 22 runs to give CSK their first title.

IPL 2009, Deccan Chargers vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: The only final to be played in foreign soil, the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg was the host of this humdinger of a match between the Chargers and the Challengers. Deccan were put into bat and lost skipper Adam Gilchrist in only the third ball of the match. However, Herschelle Gibbs anchored the innings to help his team post 143/6 in 20 overs.

Anil Kumble took four for 16 but his efforts went in vain as RCB produced a poor batting display. Roelof van der Merwe scored a 21-ball 32 while Ross Taylor hit 27 to take their team close but RCB's lower middle-order failed miserably and they fell six runs short as Deccan Chargers lifted their maiden title.

IPL 2008, Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings: The inaugural final was played between Rajasthan and Chennai and in hindsight was arguably the most closely-fought summit clash in IPL history. Chennai, put into bat, got off to a solid start. All the players got starts but failed to convert it into a big score as CSK posted 163/5 in 20 overs.

Rajasthan found themselves in a spot of bother at 42 for three but were rescued by Yusuf Pathan's 56 off 39 balls. By the end, Rajasthan needed one off the final ball with Sohail Tanvir taking strike and captain Shane Warne at the other end. The Pakistani pacer managed to get the crucial run as the rest, as they say, is history.